


Kindle

by Minos_forlorn



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Canon Universe, F/F, Non-Graphic Violence, cause like there's a war going on, war crimes and tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28935450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minos_forlorn/pseuds/Minos_forlorn
Summary: Pieck and Yelena trying to spend some quality time together, but there's a war going on, so.
Relationships: Pieck Finger/Yelena
Comments: 4
Kudos: 53





	Kindle

Yelena is a light sleeper. A rather unfortunate affliction to live with if you enjoy getting the recommended 7 hours of sleep per night. A potentially life-saving quirk if you’re a soldier who spends a lot of their time staring death in the face on a daily basis. It’s a gunshot that wakes her this time, breaking through the quiet of the night like a stone thrown through glass. She doesn’t think much of it initially, dismissing it as a fragment of some dream she can’t remember, or maybe a flashback. After several years spent in the service, it’s not unusual for her to have gunfire echoing in her head long after the battle has ended. The second and third shot, however, make her consider otherwise.

Pieck stirs in her arms, woken up by either the noise or the movement. She sits up all too suddenly, evident by her little sway, wide eyes blinking at the darkness. There’s shouting outside now, as more people begin to realise what’s going on. Voice dripping with exhaustion and resignation, she mutters, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” And just like that, she’s out of the tent, already part of the skirmish up ahead by the time Yelena manages to pull on some clothes and grab her rifle.  Of course something like this would happen on one of the very few nights she and Pieck get to spend together. Though she supposes they only have themselves to blame for choosing the worst time and place in history to have this little fling. That’s just the way of the world, with its incessant need to rob its people of any small pleasures they’re able to get their hands on.

It doesn’t take long for some of the men to reach their camp. Luckily, most of them are up and at least somewhat armed by now. There’s no order to the attack at all, pure pandemonium. They manage to take out the dozen or so of them that have made it this far fairly quickly and move forward to the main fight. Yelena picks up a helmet from a body before running ahead. She knew they’d been too merciful to accept their surrender. The commanders were certain it was over, and it certainly did look that way, so most of the soldiers were told to turn in for the night. They very well could have persisted and finished the job, though it was late, with heavy losses on both sides and the titans all tired out. All but one, that is. She bets the attackers didn’t account for that. The Cart is small and agile enough to move among the men, dealing sustainable damage to the enemy infantry while also acting as a shield. Its defences are practically non-existent compared to some of the others, but this tussle shouldn’t take too long and hopefully Pieck can hold her ground for the time being.

Something whizzes past her head, forcing her to drop to the ground. She’s tall, another unfortunate affliction as far as stealth is concerned. The darkness at least offers her some protection and she’s able to slink away from the main conflict with only one bullet grazing her left arm. The situation appears to be under control already, and she’s got her eyes set on something further up ahead. No one seems to have noticed the singular soldier fleeing the scene. Not accepting defeat is one thing, but running away from the consequences is something else. She aims her gun and tries to imagine what might be going through his head. Besides her bullet, that is. She man collapses in a heap and she stands, feeling pleased with herself. She’ll keep quiet about this one for now, at least until she gathers enough information to confirm her suspicions and see if she can get herself a small promotion. 

Silence settles over the field once again, save for the soft murmurs of people talking. She makes her way back to camp, where damage assessment is well under way. They haven’t made the same mistake of letting anyone live this time. People mutter perfidy, though some suspect mutiny. There are some bodies to be cleared, nobody she particularly cares for. She spots Pieck leaning back against the dissipating form of her titan and wrapped up in a friend’s jacket as she talks to her commander. They meet each other’s eyes for a moment, the most discreet way of confirming they’re both fine. A slight nod to say  _ I’ll meet you later.  _

She reports back to her commander for the headcount, then goes about the business of helping to move the injured and the dead. Someone points out the blood dripping down her arm and she takes this opportunity to head back and clean up. She’s grateful for a moment that nobody thought to shoot up her tent. And that she and Pieck were among the first to be up. If she had been found together with a titan shifter, injured or worse or perfectly fine for that matter, she doesn’t imagine it would bode well for either of them. They’re in this together, even if it is Pieck’s conscious decision to sneak over to her place when she has the chance. The fact that it was probably only due to the quick intervention of a titan that the battle worked out in their favour hardly makes up for them both being out of line. 

She’s done with the bandages by the time Pieck staggers up to her, bare feet carefully trudging through the grass to avoid the spilled blood. Yelena takes in her soft gaze, barely visible through the heavy-lidded eyes. She finds herself cupping her cheek and tracing a thumb over the shifter marks before she can think to stop herself, but everyone is too preoccupied at the moment to pay them any heed. Pieck confirms that what occurred tonight was the result of a very desperate group of people not knowing when to give up. They’re fairly certain there will be no further surprises, but they’ve sent out some scouts just in case.  _ We can go back to sleep _ is what she’s saying.  _ Worry about everything else tomorrow.  _ Yelena is more than happy to comply.

She moves to crawl back into the tent, but Pieck hesitates, fingers tugging at the jacket that envelops her tiny form like a shroud. “If you want,” she murmurs. “It might get too warm with me all...” She gestures vaguely to herself, referring to the fact that she’s currently, by normal human standards, burning up. It’s a side effect of shifter abilities, the body repairing itself at a rate and manner that can only be considered miraculous. It’s something that’s always fascinated Yelena when seeing it in person and something she thinks is definitely underutilised by the military. 

“Come on,” Yelena says, pulling her inside. Pieck gets like this whenever she’s utterly spent – fatigue giving way to insecurity, her usually impeccable sense of judgement suddenly faltering. She can see it in her eyes too, the grey cloudiness. It’s so very unlike her, all the layers of personality she’s built up over the years melted away to reveal the core childhood fear instilled in every Eldian. Fear really doesn’t suit her. Yelena much prefers her at her best, barking orders at her unit or shutting down Zeke’s or Yelena’s own arguments with a brutal efficiency and the confidence of someone much higher in rank. She’s earned a fair bit of respect among her peers over the years. It would be a shame to let it dwindle before she gets the chance to put it to some actual use. But that’s why she’s got Yelena, to keep her anchored when she finds herself drifting. Wrapping her arms around the smaller girl and pressing a kiss to her shoulder, she doesn’t mind the heat one bit. After all, she’s never been one to shy away from a little bit of fire.


End file.
